Baling-press.



J. R. BROWNING.

BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION TILED NOV.20,1908.

Patented July 6, 1909.

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BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1908.

Patented July 6, 1909.

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JOSEPH R. BROWNING, OF SPRINGHILL, LOUISIANA.

BALING-PRESS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrn R. BROWNING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springhill, in the parish of \Vebster and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Bailing-Press, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to baling presses of that type using fluid for driving the packer, and it is more particularly an improvement upon the valve operating mechanism of the character disclosed in an applieation for United States Letters Patent, filed by me on June 25, 1908, Serial Number 440,415.

Heretofore the operation of the valve controlling the supply of motive fluid to the packer has been operated at regular intervals irrespective of the amount of material contained within the press box, and, as a result, considerable motive fluid has often been wasted by the unnecessary actuation of the packer while the press box is, for example, partly or entirely empty.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for actuating the valve, ,aid means being controlled by the material contained within the press box, whereby the valve will not be shifted until a predetermined amount of material has been supplied to the machine.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consists of certain novel de tails of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings ;-Figure 1 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section of the entire apparatus constituting the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical trans verse section through the feed chute and receiving box of the press, the adjoining mechanism being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the valve operating mechanism.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the press box and 2 designates a feed box disposed at the feed end of the press box and closed at 1ts sides, the front of said feed box bemg open to receive cotton or other material from a chute A rod 4: is journaled in the rear portion of the feed box directly opposite the chute 3 and is mounted to rock, there Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. November 20, 1908.

Patented July 6, 1909.

Serial No. 463,658.

being a series of broad fingers 5 secured in any suitable manner to the rod at and extending downwardly therefrom into the path of material discharged from the chute 3. These fingers are preferably normally inclined downwardly and each finger is preferably formed with an extension 6 slidably mounted therein, all of the extensions being attached to a connecting rod 7 whereby simultaneous movement of the extensions is insured. A cable 8 is attached to the mid dle portion of the rod 7 and extends over a supporting sheave 9 carried by the rear wall of the receiving box 2, said cable then extending downwardly and detachably engaging the lower portion of one of the fingers 5 so as to thus hold all of the fingers normally supported above the open end of the press box 1. Obviously however by releasing the cable 8 from the finger 5 to which it is connected all of the extensions 6 can move downwardly into the press box 1 as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

A packer 10 is mounted to reciprocate within the receiving box 2 and the stem 12 thereof has a piston 13 mounted upon it and designed to work within a cylinder 14. This packer carries means for shifting the fingers out of the path thereof and thus maintain ing them until the packer has assumed its elevated position, saidmeans consisting of a rod 15 mounted on the packer and designed, when it is moved downward, to press against one of the fingers 5 and shift it rearwardly. The packer also carries a cut off plate 16 designed, when said packer moves downwardly, to close the discharge end of the chute 3 and thus prevent material from being fed to the press.

An arm 17 is secured to and extends from one end of the rod 4: and engages one end of a rod 18, which is slidably mounted upon the frame 20 of the machine, said rod being held normally in a predetermined position by means of a spring 21 which bears at its ends against a bracket 22 and a stop 23 on the rod respectively. At an intermediate point this rod engages one end of a lever 24. centrally fulcrumed as at 25 and the other end of which engages a sleeve 26 which is feathered on the drive shaft 27 of the valve mechanism. This sleeve 26 has a gear 28 thereon which is shiftable into or out of mesh with a larger gear 29 carrying a laterally extending stud 30. A valve cas ing 31 is located adjacent the gear 29 and has a steam inlet 32 and an exhaust 33, the l also returned to their normal positions, thus valve 34 within the casing 31 being so constructed as to place the inlet in communication with a pipe 35 extending to one end of cylinder 14 and the exhaust 33 into communication with the pipe 36 extending to the other end of said cylinder, or vice versa. A bell crank lever 37 is secured to and moves with the valve 3st and one arm of this lever extends into the path of the lug 30, while the other arm thereof is pivotally connected to a link 38 extending from and pivotally connected to a slide 39 mounted in a suitable bed 40. A finger 41 extends upwardly from this slide and into the path of the lug 30 and is for the purpose herein after set forth.

As shown in Fig. l, the normal position of the packer is in the upper portion of the receiving box, at which time the pipe 35 is in communication with the inlet 32. The cotton or other material to be baled is supplied to the receiving box through chute 3 and after the press box has been filled this material will crowd within the receiving box and press the fingers 5 backwardly. The bar 4 will thus be rocked and the arm 17 will pull on the spring-controlled rod 18 and cause lever 24; to shift the sleeve 26 and gear 28 longitudinally along the rotating shaft 27. The gear 28 will thus be brought into mesh with the gear 29 which last mentioned gear will be rotated so as to bring the stud 30 against the upper arm of the bell crank lever 37. This lever will thus be shifted by the stud 30 and cause the valve to shift so as to place the pipe 35 in communication with the exhaust and the pipe 36 in communication with the inlet. The fluid under pressure will thus be directed frogn the inlet and into the upper portion of the cylinder 14 and the piston 13 will be forced downwardly and cause the packer 10 to compress the material within the press box, the downward movement of the packer bringing the rod 15 against one of the fingers 5 and thus shifting all of the fingers laterally and out of the path of the packer. At the same time the cutoff plate 16 assumes a position in front of the chute and prevents the admission of additional material to the press.

During the foregoing operation the gear 29 continues to rotate and the stud 30 after shifting the valve so as to place the pipes 32 and 86 in communication, moves against the finger 4:1 and shifts the slide 39 longitudinally so as to return the valve to its initial position. Communication between pipes 82 and 35 is thus reestablished and the fluid entering the lower portion of cylinder 1% will force the piston 13 back to its initial" position and thus raise the packer. The fingers 5, as soon as released by the packer,

are returned to their initial positions by the spring 21 and the gear 28 and sleeve 26 are uncoupling the gears 28 and 29 and stopping the actuation of the valve. The foregoing operation will be repeated as soon as a suflicient amount of material has been fed to the presser box to cause the fingers 5 to move baclnvardly. It will be seen therefore that the operation of the valve is dependent solely upon the amount of material contained within the press, and there is no danger of the packer operating unless it is desired to compress the material in the path thereof. The extensions (5 are provided for use in connection with double box revolving presses, and can, if desired, be dispensed with. These extensions are designed to be lowered into the press so as to insure the operation of the fingers when used upon a press of the type mentioned.

Obviously various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. For example, a weighted cord can be used instead of the spring 21 and instead of pro viding a central fulcrum for the lever 24 said lever can be pivoted at one end and can engage the sleeve 26 at a point between the ends of the lever.

lVhat is claimed is 1. In a baling press a press-box, a receiving-box, a rock-bar, means depending from said bar and into the receiving box for actuation by material supplied to the box, an oscillating arm carried by and movable with the rock-bar, a fluid-actuated packer, a fluidcontrolling valve, normally stationary mech anism for successively shifting the valve out of and back to normal position, a drive shaft, a gear slidably mounted thereon and movable into or out of engagement with said stationary mechanism, and a lever actuated by the oscillating arm for shift-ing the gear.

2. In a baling press a press-box, a receiving box, means for supplying material to the receiving box, a rock-bar, means depending from the rock-bar and into the receiving box for actuation by material supplied to the box, an arm connected to and movable with the rock-bar, a spring-controlled rod for holding said arm and rock-bar normally in predetermined positions, a fluid-actuated packer, a fluid-controlling valve, normally stationary mechanism for successively shifting said valve out of and back to normal position, a drive-shaft, a gear movably mounted on the shaft, and means actuated by the spring-controlled rod for shifting the gear into and out of engagement with said normally stationary mechanism.

3. In a baling press a press-box, a fluidactuated packer, a fluid-controlling valve, valveoperating mechanism, and mechanism actuated by material within the press-box for placing the valve and its actuating mech- 1 actuated packer, a fiuichcontrolling valve, ex-

tensible means in the path of and disposed to be actuated by material supplied to the press box, mechanism actuated by said means for successively shifting the valve out of and back to normal position, means carried by the packer for holdin said extensible means against movement during the packing operation, and a cut-off carried by the packer.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH R. BROWNING.

Vitnesses J. F. GILns, J. G. Boron. 

